ReturnOfJudah
Veteran
Moms crying and asking for forgiveness while on her knees on some “slave shyt”
Boston Celtics wing Semi Ojeleye’s family detailed a rocky split from Duke when he elected to transfer to SMU, from an explosive meeting with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to a Blue Devil assistant making disparaging remarks about Ojeleye.
The Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy ran a feature about Ojeleye’s journey to the Boston Celtics, with some of the more explosive anecdotes coming from his time in Durham.
Ojeleye struggled in his time at Duke, playing in 23 games over two seasons without starting a contest, averaging 2.0 points per game in his Blue Devil career.
“He would have toiled away in obscurity,” Ojeleye’s mother Joy told the Herald of his time at Duke. “He would have slaved away and the dream would have been completely dead. Dead and forgotten. Another one who played in high school, went to college. Society would have just thought he never worked hard enough.”
And Murphy wrote that “Krzyzewski fanned Semi’s resolve, too. Semi’s brother Victor said the Duke coach, irritated following multiple inquiries from the family about their son’s role, lashed out when Semi gave him the news.”
“What I will say about that day is that (Krzyzewski) told Semi he was making a mistake,” Victor said.
But that’s light compared to what came later. While Ojeleye was positive about his Duke experience — “Just needed a fresh start. It wasn’t that I didn’t think it was a good place. It was a great place — that’s why I went there.” — his parents didn’t share his feelings. Those feelings were based on two separate — and apparently polar opposite — meetings with Krzyzewski. After not seeing much playing time, his family met with the Blue Devil coach to discuss concerns.
“He said your son is an amazing person,” Joy said. “On and off the court. He’s going to play. Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. He even texted me and said Semi is going to do great, he’s going to break out. That helps me believe what my son told me, because he said I believe him.”
But Ojeyele’s sophomore season started off much the same way, and so Joy went with Victor to meet with Coach K again. She said this time, she knelt in front of Krzyzewski as he yelled at her.
“He shouted at me. He said, ‘Am I lying, Am I lying?’ Just like that,” Joy said. “My oldest son said, ‘Coach, she didn’t say you were lying, she was only asking you a question.’
“I had tears streaming down my cheeks, and I said, ‘Coach, you’re way up there and I’m down here. That’s why I kneeled down and said forgive me. I didn’t say you were lying. I would never say that.’ Victor, for the first time, he felt so humiliated, so bad and ashamed I was treated like that. It’s OK. I just didn’t want him to feel like I was being rude to him. I just wanted to ask the question. Is there anything my son needs to do and achieve the privilege to play? Because if you never play, nobody sees your talent. And he tells me he does everything you tell him to do, so if you’re working hard behind the scenes, please, even if it’s five minutes, let him play.
“So when I sat down, he said, ‘You’re OK, you’re OK, that’s OK, that’s OK, you haven’t done anything wrong.’ And he went back and sat in his chair,” Joy said. “I said ‘I’m sorry,’ and he said, ‘You don’t have anything to be sorry about. You’re fine.’”
According to Murphy, “Semi withdrew from the program two weeks later, though Joy is uncertain of whether her encounter with Krzyzewski influenced the decision.”
When asked about the meetings, Ojeleye was noncommittal.
“That’s in the past — doesn’t matter, don’t want to get into that,” Ojeleye said.
Later, Ojeleye’s father Ernest said he was taken aback when Duke assistant Nate James called to insult his son.
“First he said the only way Semi was going to play at Duke was if someone else got hurt,” Ernest said. “Then he said Semi didn’t work on his game, or do what they told him to do. He didn’t ask the coaches what he had to do to get better.
“I said no, this person you are talking about is not my child,” Ernest said. “I was really hot about this, but then I told him, ‘Thanks for the privilege.’ But it was really annoying for them to try and destroy my son’s character. Very wicked, actually.”
Duke issued a statement to the Herald in response to an interview request.
“While we are not going to comment on specific conversations between parents and members of our coaching staff, we understand that transfer situations are sometimes emotional. Our entire Duke Basketball staff enjoyed Semi Ojeleye’s year-and-a-half as a member of our program, and since granting him his full release, we have followed his career as he progressed into the professional player our staff envisioned him to be. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Of course, the whole story has a happy ending.
The former No. 8 small forward and No. 26 overall player in the 247Sports Composite found his game after transferring to SMU. He sat out the NCAA-mandated season after making the switch, then became one of college basketball’s most devastating matchup issues, averaging 19.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and winning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
Ojeleye then entered the NBA Draft a season early, going to the Celtics with the No. 37 pick. And while he hasn’t found tons of success of yet, he has started three of Boston’s nine games so far this playoff season, averaging 16.7 minutes per game.
The Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy ran a feature about Ojeleye’s journey to the Boston Celtics, with some of the more explosive anecdotes coming from his time in Durham.
Ojeleye struggled in his time at Duke, playing in 23 games over two seasons without starting a contest, averaging 2.0 points per game in his Blue Devil career.
“He would have toiled away in obscurity,” Ojeleye’s mother Joy told the Herald of his time at Duke. “He would have slaved away and the dream would have been completely dead. Dead and forgotten. Another one who played in high school, went to college. Society would have just thought he never worked hard enough.”
And Murphy wrote that “Krzyzewski fanned Semi’s resolve, too. Semi’s brother Victor said the Duke coach, irritated following multiple inquiries from the family about their son’s role, lashed out when Semi gave him the news.”
“What I will say about that day is that (Krzyzewski) told Semi he was making a mistake,” Victor said.
But that’s light compared to what came later. While Ojeleye was positive about his Duke experience — “Just needed a fresh start. It wasn’t that I didn’t think it was a good place. It was a great place — that’s why I went there.” — his parents didn’t share his feelings. Those feelings were based on two separate — and apparently polar opposite — meetings with Krzyzewski. After not seeing much playing time, his family met with the Blue Devil coach to discuss concerns.
“He said your son is an amazing person,” Joy said. “On and off the court. He’s going to play. Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. He even texted me and said Semi is going to do great, he’s going to break out. That helps me believe what my son told me, because he said I believe him.”
But Ojeyele’s sophomore season started off much the same way, and so Joy went with Victor to meet with Coach K again. She said this time, she knelt in front of Krzyzewski as he yelled at her.
“He shouted at me. He said, ‘Am I lying, Am I lying?’ Just like that,” Joy said. “My oldest son said, ‘Coach, she didn’t say you were lying, she was only asking you a question.’
“I had tears streaming down my cheeks, and I said, ‘Coach, you’re way up there and I’m down here. That’s why I kneeled down and said forgive me. I didn’t say you were lying. I would never say that.’ Victor, for the first time, he felt so humiliated, so bad and ashamed I was treated like that. It’s OK. I just didn’t want him to feel like I was being rude to him. I just wanted to ask the question. Is there anything my son needs to do and achieve the privilege to play? Because if you never play, nobody sees your talent. And he tells me he does everything you tell him to do, so if you’re working hard behind the scenes, please, even if it’s five minutes, let him play.
“So when I sat down, he said, ‘You’re OK, you’re OK, that’s OK, that’s OK, you haven’t done anything wrong.’ And he went back and sat in his chair,” Joy said. “I said ‘I’m sorry,’ and he said, ‘You don’t have anything to be sorry about. You’re fine.’”
According to Murphy, “Semi withdrew from the program two weeks later, though Joy is uncertain of whether her encounter with Krzyzewski influenced the decision.”
When asked about the meetings, Ojeleye was noncommittal.
“That’s in the past — doesn’t matter, don’t want to get into that,” Ojeleye said.
Later, Ojeleye’s father Ernest said he was taken aback when Duke assistant Nate James called to insult his son.
“First he said the only way Semi was going to play at Duke was if someone else got hurt,” Ernest said. “Then he said Semi didn’t work on his game, or do what they told him to do. He didn’t ask the coaches what he had to do to get better.
“I said no, this person you are talking about is not my child,” Ernest said. “I was really hot about this, but then I told him, ‘Thanks for the privilege.’ But it was really annoying for them to try and destroy my son’s character. Very wicked, actually.”
Duke issued a statement to the Herald in response to an interview request.
“While we are not going to comment on specific conversations between parents and members of our coaching staff, we understand that transfer situations are sometimes emotional. Our entire Duke Basketball staff enjoyed Semi Ojeleye’s year-and-a-half as a member of our program, and since granting him his full release, we have followed his career as he progressed into the professional player our staff envisioned him to be. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Of course, the whole story has a happy ending.
The former No. 8 small forward and No. 26 overall player in the 247Sports Composite found his game after transferring to SMU. He sat out the NCAA-mandated season after making the switch, then became one of college basketball’s most devastating matchup issues, averaging 19.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and winning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
Ojeleye then entered the NBA Draft a season early, going to the Celtics with the No. 37 pick. And while he hasn’t found tons of success of yet, he has started three of Boston’s nine games so far this playoff season, averaging 16.7 minutes per game.
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